still here...

totally not in the mood to blog lately.
life is still unsettled...
and it makes me "moody" often.

can you believe it's already been 4 friggen months of living with our families?!? god, that sentence alone makes me want to cry.

anyway, i keep thinking about "American Idol - Idol Gives Back" and am kicked back into the reality that I really shouldn't feel sorry for myself. I mean...we drink fancy Starbucks coffee almost every day. My son is healthy. I have a husband who loves me. I have friends that I can count on. My family is so understanding.

I'm sure some people would even consider me lucky.

never ass-u-me...

never assume, because you make an "ass out of u and me"...
hardy har har.
but seriously...
when i decided to take a last minute trip to come and see my sister, I worried like crazy about taking Hudson on a plane all by myself. Would he cry? Would he freak out? What would I do with him, if I had to pee? Would the other passengers hate us? etc. etc. I NEVER worried about how he would be once we got to my sisters.

however...

the flight (layover and all) were perfect.
Hudson cried softly for maybe 2 minutes near the end of our flight. He slept for a little bit, and the rest of the time he watched his Barney and Sesame Street DVD's and snuggled me. He even got a compliment from a lady across the aisle about how "good" he was.

and...

his behavior here at my sisters house???

awful.
awful awful.

he's the crankiest he's ever been. he's the clingiest he's ever been. I've hit him in the head with the fridge door twice because of him being my "shadow". He's cried his eyes out because, heaven forbid, someone else was looking at his (really the girl's) fish tank. That fish tank is for Hudson's eyes only, okay? And that toy he was playing with 8 hours ago...that is also for Hudson only, okay? He's like a whole other kid. A miserable one.

What's up with that? Audrey mentioned that maybe he's missing his papa, and doesn't know how to express his feelings about it. If that IS the reason, it breaks my heart. One week down...23 more to go.

A day at the Park

We have run away from the 10 feet tall snow banks in Montreal...
we have run away from the reality of Rob being gone to train for his new career...
we have run away to the sunshine of spring...
and being surrounded by family...
and it's nice.

well...as nice as it can be, not having our hubby and papa.

(Rob...these pictures are for YOU! miss you Stinker)

minimod

What's this lady doing?

ummm...i don't think i like this
yup...definitely don't like this
stop! stop!! stop!!! I HATE this!

Even the fun "car" chair and cartoons didn't ease the trauma of Hudson's first hair cut in a Salon. He cried harder than we've ever heard him cry. To quote Rob: "Hudson went BESERK".

And the worst part of it...I don't really like the hair cut! There's nothing wrong it...I just like him better with his hippy waves and long bangs.

Just to even things up...

this is for Joyce's poo dream...

She's going to kill me...

Rob.

One of the boys

Ending the night playing some Nintendo DS...

Rob, his sister Faye, her husband Brent, and I were lounging on the beach. The bottom half of our bodies were sitting in the water, our top half in the sun. We were all smoking. Faye was trying to talk us out of adopting a three-legged dog. She heard that three-legged dogs fall down a lot. We're still not convinced. Rob says he has gone poo in his shorts.

I hear Hudson crying.

Ooohhhhh....I'm dreaming!

The craziest part of this crazy dream? It seemed sooooo real!

It's 4am. I tell my sleepy husband about my dream.

I think he wants me to go back to sleep.

I drift off, thinking that I will blog about it in the morning.

the start of something good...

Yesterday was a good day. A great day. After almost 2 years of a long long long application process, Rob got accepted for his "dream" job! As per his future employer's request, I can not post any details about it on my blog. I guess not everyone is a fan of sharing personal info with the Internet! He leaves for training in less than 2 weeks, so until then, we will spend every possible minute with each other. Last night at the mall we captured a happy family moment in the Photo Booth. I haven't been in one of those things in years. I forgot how much fun they are. Look at Hudson smiling at us kissing in that last picture. I love it.

Now the adventure of where our life takes us, begins...

kinda fun...

kinda petrifying...

** for those of you who know what "dream" job I am referring to, please don't mention it in any comments! **

that was just a "pop quiz"...

okay...the hand under the mouth to catch my kid's throw-up was just a "pop quiz"...

the real "final exam" occured last night...

when he spewed the entire contents of his stomach all over me in the food court of the mall. all. over. me.

not only did i not freak out. i agreed to go into the petshop with puke soaked clothes, because Hudson pointed so determinately toward it. and Rob (who is a BIG softie when it comes to pleasing his sick, miserable, son), turned toward me and asked "Can you just wait a minute, while I take him in?" note: his clothes were dry and clean, but whatever.

whew, i passed.

i officially passed the "mom" test.
my Hudson is so so sick with a bad cold.
coughing, runny nose, fever...feeling lousy all over.

and today, he coughed so much he puked.
and without hesitation...
i stuck my hand out under his mouth to catch it.
and i wasn't grossed out in the least.

i've officially passed the "mom" test.

i needed that!

check out Dooce's latest post re: Wiener poopie.
so funny.

seriously...you can't make this stuff up.

Today's Recap

three random facts about my day today:

1. I got new eyeglasses that I love (and I love that Lenscrafters really had them done in an hour). No more coke-bottles for me!
2. Hudson purposefully took a huge MegaBlock piece of Lego with him to bed, and actually fell asleep holding the hard plastic against his body (reinforcing the fact that I so don't get boys)
3. Hudson had his first accident that involved blood. He banged his face against a table and cut inside his mouth. I didn't know where he hurt himself, until I saw the blood oozing from his (crying) mouth. It instantly turned my stomach, and I panicked. Lucky for me his papa stayed (relatively) calm.

Hudson's latest tricks

I've been trying to capture on video all the things Hudson can "do" lately...there's LOTS because he's such a genius ;)

He knows where his belly button is, his eyes, nose, toes...

this video shows only a couple...

because Hudson's FAVORITE trick is to not listen to his mama...

he has mastered it.

i'll never learn...

i got my hair cut after having a mental breakdown last week.
in a funky, hip, salon where everyone had stylish and coiffed hair.
it made me bold enough to agree that a "bob" was too boring for someone as young as me.
on the suggestion of the stylist, i agreed that lots of layers would suit me.
lots of layers NEVER suits me.
ever.
it's due to the fact that my hair is stick straight and thick.
lots of layers, especially for a mama who RARELY has time to do my hair, makes me look "80's rocker-ish"...not the look i was going for.
now my option is to tough it out and wait for it to grow back.
or cut it even shorter (in an attempt to cut off some of the many many layers)

this is what i'm thinking...



do you think i'll regret it?

New Year's Resolutions

In 2008 I will:
1. Stay in better touch with friends
2. Learn to drive around downtown Montreal without getting lost
3. Wear sexy and stylish shoes again, even if uncomfortable
4. Eat a piece of "Red Velvet Cake" (because of you, Shannon!)
5. Stay awake for at least 75% of the movies we rent
6. Not fall asleep wearing my contact lenses and then wake up in the middle of the night and try to pry them off my eyeballs
7. Kiss my husband as much as I kiss Hudson...or at least as much as I kiss Bosco
8. Complete Hudson's scrapbook (which should be pretty easy considering I got a "Ready-made template" Scrapbook as a gift when I was pregnant
9. Keep blog updated often
10. Find new house that I love, preferably not in Nunavut(?), Nunuvit(?)...
11. Learn how to spell Nunavut.

glass half full or half empty?

pros of moving back in with your parents after almost 15 years of living on your own:

number of meals I've cooked since Dec. 14th = 0
number of times I've gone grocery shopping = 1
number of times I've bought diapers = 0
number of times I've gone to Starbucks = 22
number of times I've left Hudson alone with my parents = 2
number of times Hudson doesn't want me, and instead wants my mother = too many (starting to kinda hurt my feelings actually)
number of times I've cleaned the bathroom(s) = 0
number of times I've looked in the fridge and found nothing to eat = 0
number of times I used to look in the fridge in my old house and found nothing to eat = 1017



cons of moving back in with your parents:

number of times I've felt like a big loser for being 33 years old and moving in with my parents, lugging with me a 14 month old kid, a husband, a dog, and crazy amounts of haphazardly packed boxes labeled "MISC" = 3012


Seriously though...
I love Montreal. I am excited to get to know it all over again. Rob and I drove to Mont Royal on Christmas day, and drove around our other favorite city neighbourhoods. I love the old buildings. I love the stylishly dressed people. I have totally noticed the increased number of "HOT" girls (Montreal does seem to have more than other Canadian cities). I left this city when I was 18 years old. I never really lived here as an adult. So it's weird how I consider Montreal my "hometown", but don't really know it at all. It's a HUGE city with soooo many areas. I plan on rediscovering it while I'm living here. I'm just waiting for the sub zero temperatures to rise a bit before heading out!

happy new year!

just in case you guys were wondering what the hell happened to me...

our recent "homelessness" and the busy holidays has resulted in me not wanting to blog much lately. surprisingly i've been in a decent mood, considering how upside down our lives have become.

i have to keep reminding myself that i should be grateful for having a family that repeatedly does so much for us, a husband that loves me, a beautiful & healthy son to snuggle, and good friends to laugh with...and not dwell so much on the fact that we sold our house for a potential job that we still don't know if it's going to work out. i just crave the stability of my old, albeit boring, daily routine. lately my days and nights have no rhyme or reason. poor hudson. on the positive side, he's getting really close to his grandparents and cousins!


there's only a few hours before this year ends...

i have always been an optimist, seeing the world thru rose-colored glasses...

i think 2008 will bring great things.

happy new year everyone! wish you all love and laughter!

monkey see...monkey do...

We've made a few Starbucks runs during the madness of packing...
everyone needs a sip of perfectly brewed java during times of stress, right?

(maybe this is why Hudson is such a poor napper...?!?)

** in case anyone is thinking of calling Family Services on me...it was only one shot espresso...not two... **

for jan and glen...

so far...my favorite shirt on Hudson EVER!
Cherokee Shmerokee...
I'm a Holts snob all the way!!!

birth order and junk mail

1. my gramma used to say that two "babies" of the family (i say babies meaning "last born") make the worst couple because they are both... well...babyish. you know...the whole birth order thing...the youngest child is supposedly a little less ambitious, a little more immature, wants others to take responsibility, wants others to do things for them...blah blah blah. rob and i are both the babies of our families. and well...

we are moving out of our house in less than two weeks...

and i think we're both waiting for the other one to pack and get the house ready to move out.



2. we got 38 different flyers in the mail. i know it's christmas...but seriously...i counted...for real i counted...i'm not exaggerating...we got 38 DIFFERENT flyers in our mailbox...38 different retail stores! i didn't even think there were 38 different retail stores in the Ottawa area. call it procrastination from packing, but i HAD to count the pile because it was THAT big. this wasn't an accumulation of junk mail over the week. this was delivered all at once!





3. considering we don't have a forwarding address yet...i wonder how santa is going to know where to deliver our gifts?!? (excuse me...my birth order is coming out).